Austria Launches Acceleration Act for Key Technologies and aws Impulse Programme

Fast-Track Procedure and Status of Strategic Project

Parallel to the half-year review, the first part of the Key Technologies Acceleration Act is entering the consultation phase. The Act provides for a fast-track procedure for industrial projects: in future, the Economics Ministry will be able to officially decide within a 30-day deadline whether a project receives the status of a "strategic project." Projects with this status are legally attributed an "overriding public interest" in official permitting procedures – a category that already exists in the EABG.

In addition, the principle of "Single Points of Contact" is being introduced to prevent companies from being worn down by navigating between different authorities. The aim is for businesses to have a fixed contact person for their permitting procedures in future. The government hopes this will allow production relocations and expansions to be implemented more quickly.

EUR 18 Million for Pilot Plants and Scaling

Alongside the administrative relief measures, the promotional bank aws is launching a new impulse programme entitled "Industrielle Schlüsseltechnologien – Leitbetriebe 2030". The call opened on 16 June at 1:00 p.m. and is endowed with total funding of EUR 18 million. Up to three million euros in funding can be applied for per submitted project. Projects with an investment volume between 1 and 50 million euros are eligible for funding.

State Secretary for Deregulation Sepp Schellhorn placed the step in the broader context of the deregulation agenda: "Die Industriestrategie gibt den Kurs vor, die Entbürokratisierung liefert den Rückenwind." Schellhorn sees this less as a lack of ideas or talent and more as an implementation problem: "Österreich hat kein Ideenproblem, Österreich hat auch kein Talenteproblem, wir haben bis jetzt ein Umsetzungsproblem."

Patent Law, UGB and AI High-Performance Computer

In the area of innovation, Infrastructure Minister Peter Hanke (SPÖ) announced further amendments. A patent law amendment and changes to the Unternehmensgesetzbuch (UGB) are "kurz vor der Zielgeraden". Among other things, it is planned that in future self-used patents can be recognised as balanceable assets – a step intended to make it easier in particular for SMEs and start-ups to access financing. The procurement of an AI-optimised high-performance computer for the AI Factory Austria, with an investment volume of EUR 53 million, was also mentioned as a project.

Around 50 digitalisation proposals on how companies can be relieved of reporting and notification obligations are to be put forward at the Council of Ministers on Wednesday. Hattmannsdorfer expressed satisfaction with the pace so far: "Dieses Tempo ist dringend notwendig." Georg Kopetz also sees opportunities for Austrian companies: "Österreichische Unternehmen haben exzellente Möglichkeiten, von diesem globalen Dual-Use-Fokus zu profitieren."

FPÖ Criticises Interim Review as Insufficient

Criticism came meanwhile from the FPÖ. Industry spokesperson Axel Kassegger gave a cautious assessment of the interim review: "Eine Strategie, die weder die Sorgen der Betriebe noch die tatsächlichen Standortprobleme löst und von der nur ein Bruchteil der Unternehmen überzeugt ist, kann nicht als Erfolg verkauft werden." For the competitiveness of the business location, what counts in the end "am Ende nicht die Zahl der angestoßenen Prozesse, sondern der tatsächlich realisierte Entlastungseffekt für die Betriebe".

With the start of the consultation process, the parliamentary and technical review of the first part of the Key Technologies Acceleration Act now begins. The government hopes this will lead to shorter procedural durations for industrial plants and thus to a locational advantage in the competition for future investments. Further parts of the Act and the outstanding measures of the Industry Strategy are to follow in the coming months.